* U.S. House passes healthcare overhaul
* Drugmakers rise along with health insurer index
* Boeing rises after analyst comment
* Dow up 0.5 pct, S&P up 0.5 pct, Nasdaq up 0.8 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Updates to afternoon trading, changes byline)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday
on gains in the tech sector and after a bill overhauling the
healthcare system was passed, ending much of the uncertainty
for investors.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill late
on Sunday, and while analysts have raised concerns it will
squeeze company profits and add to costs, they said much of the
negative impact was already priced in. For details, see
[]
"The markets are rising now because that uncertainty was
removed," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor
Fitzgerald in San Francisco.
Pado added that investors now know who the "winners and
losers" of the bill would be, "with pharmaceutical companies
selling more drugs, but insurers unable to raise rates like
they could before."
Among drug companies, Pfizer Inc <PFE.N> added 1.8 percent
to $17.22 while Merck & Co <MRK.N> advanced 1.7 percent to
$38.69. Both companies are Dow components.
Insurance companies were mixed, with WellPoint Inc <WLP.N>
down 0.6 percent to $64.66 and Aetna Inc <AET.N> up 0.5 percent
to $34.64. Many insurance firms posted strong gains in the week
before the bill was passed.
The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor Index <.HMO> of
insurance providers rose 1.1 percent, putting it on track for a
sixth straight session of gains.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> gained 50.41
points, or 0.47 percent, to 10,792.39. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> gained 5.29 points, or 0.46 percent, to
1,165.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> gained 18.75
points, or 0.79 percent, to 2,393.16.
The top boost on the Dow was Boeing <BA.N>, which rose 1.9
percent to $72.04 after Barclays raised its price target on the
planemaker.
Big-cap tech companies lifted the Nasdaq. Oracle Corp
<ORCL.O> advanced 1.8 percent to $25.65, putting it among the
stocks giving the biggest lift to the index. The company is
expected to report results later this week.
Apple Inc <AAPL.O> gained 1.5 percent to $225.70.
On the earnings front, jeweler Tiffany & Co <TIF.N>
reported a fourth-quarter profit that was weaker than expected
but gave a full-year profit view that was above consensus. The
stock edged 0.1 percent lower to $47.19. []
CNX Gas Corp <CXG.N> shares surged 23 percent to $37.85 a
day after its parent company, Consol Energy Inc <CNX.N>,
reached a deal with T. Rowe Price Associates to tender CNX
shares. Under the terms of the agreement, Consol will buy the
shares for $38.25 per share each, compared with the company's
Friday closing price of $30.80. []
(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
